Cafepress is one of the websites that deal in a range of personalised products. Typically these sites deal with t-shirts, mugs, bags and calendars but cafepress also offers you the opportunity to get your paperback printed.
Cost per copy(100 page book): $10
Setup Charges: $0
Layout Help: Very Beneficial
Cover Artist Help: Required
Editorial & Proofreading: Down to personal preference
They make the 5 most used sizes available (Grocery Store Paperback, Standard Paperback, Comic, Technical Manual and Letter Size) with a choice of 3 bindings. (Saddle Stich, Wire-O or Perfect Bound)
Although I should say not all bindings are available for all sizes.
Things to know about the CafePress Publishing Process
CafePress will insist on you submitting a PDF file that has been created with Adobe Distiller and not any other pdf creator.
CafePress takes a non-exclusive distribution right when you publish your book with them. This means that you can sell the same book content ( using different ISBNs ) from other print on demand providers.
Actually. When it comes to CafePress I’m not going to bother with a lengthy explanation about what you have to do. All the hoops they ask you to jump through are explained in painful detail on their website.
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/learn_book.aspxAs an education in HOW to lay out a document in readiness for a paperback, it is an excellent read. In fact if you want to learn more about exactly what each part of a book is called and on what page everything should go then their Publishing Learning centre is fantastic.
Just go to the Finalize Book Manuscript category and it will tell you everything you need to know.The worrying thing about this is that it is needed. Just to get the book ready.
Not really. They make it far too complicated.Essentially, all you have to do is grab the correct template for the book size you want, fill in all the pages at the front of the book, paste in your content and format all the pages to your taste. You have to lay out the cover pages separately, but I would strongly suggest you get someone to do the cover for you. A professional cover makes all the difference.
But at the price they charge surely they could do alot more for you. Like why they insist on you sending them the pdf version?Why Choose CafePress?
Now, the good thing about CafePress is the merchandising opportunities that are available. Plus the more than generous affiliate commission that you can add to your royalties.You can create loads of merchandise to tie in with your book publication and you get a store front that you can promote too. Sign up to their commission junction affiliate program and you will get an additional 15% commission on every sale you make.
That MAY make up for all the effort you have to put into getting the book created – until you realize that you can still sell all the merchandise and set up a CafePress StoreFront without using cafepress to print your book.If you are on a very restricted budget should you use CafePress?
Not really. They are cheaper per copy than blurb, and the affiliate commission is generous, but blurb is faster, lulu is cheaper and neither charge any set up fees.
In summary:Excellent merchandising opportunities with great affiliate commissions but the book publishing instructions are a little complicated. Does not accept word documents and so is only really a consideration if you want to set up a merchandising shop and want to maximise the return you get from the store. The non-exclusive distribution agreement you have with them will also allow you to publish the book with other print on demand services.
